Portsmouth [England], November 5 (ANI): Researchers have found out how an organic chemical impacts bacteria that are drug-resistant and discovered that it can inhibit and kill a pathogen that can result in serious illness or, in some cases, death.
The findings of the study were published in the journal Antibiotics.
Often seen in hospital patients, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a type of bacteria that can cause infections in the blood, lungs (pneumonia), or other regions of the body following surgery.
Recently, it was shown that the germ and several other clinically significant bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumonia, were susceptible to the bacterial killing action of hydroquinone, an organic chemical found in the bark of some trees.
The research team, made up of members from the University of Portsmouth, Naresuan University, and Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University in Thailand, has since looked at the molecular reactions of various strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to hydroquinone. In order to do this, they examined which genes the medication activated and which ones it turned off.
According to the new study, hydroquinone considerably changes the amount at which Pseudomonas aeruginosa expresses virulence proteins. Additionally, it implies that the substance obstructs the assembly and movement of the germs.
“There’s quite a long list of antibiotics that don’t work on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but our experiments found that some of the genes governing the motility of the bacterium were quite drastically switched off by hydroquinone,” said Dr. Robert Baldock from the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Portsmouth. Significantly less germ swarming, swimming, and biofilm development occurred.
“If we know that this drug is working in a really unique or different way then it firstly explains why it’s active on these drug-resistant cells, but it also means that you can potentially look at combining it with other existing antibiotics to make them more effective.”
Drug-resistant bacteria occur in more than 2.8 million infections and are responsible for 35,000 deaths per year. Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making it difficult to treat infections.
Antibiotics that are often used yet to which some strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have developed resistance include amoxicillin and trimethoprim. In addition to being used to treat nocturnal muscle cramps in the Netherlands, hydroquinone is already recognized to be an effective treatment for human malaria. Little research has been done up until now on its drug-resistant traits.
“Antimicrobial resistance has emerged as one of the biggest threats to public health globally, so it is very exciting to discover an organic compound has the potential to be used as an effective weapon in the fight,” Dr. Jirapas Jongjitwimol from the Department of Medical Technology at Naresuan University added.
“We now need to look at how the compound works against a wider variety of bacterial strains so that we better understand why some germs are affected or not affected by it.” (ANI)
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